The Sad Case of Chrono Trigger.
(AfroGamers.com) One of the most beloved JRPGs of all time is Chrono Trigger. Its setting, story, characters, style, music and battle system hold a dear spot in the hearts of most old school JRPG fans. The artwork for the game was done by Akira Toriyama, the creator of the Dragon Ball manga series. The story of the game was done by Masato Kato who also did the story for the critically acclaimed Final Fantasy VII. The music for the game was done by Yasunori Mitsuda and Nobuo Uematsu, the later known for his work on every Final Fantasy game up to Final Fantasy XI and the iOS JRPG Fantasian.
Why Was Chrono Trigger So Good
While there are many things that made Chrono Trigger so beloved, there is one thing that sticks out like a sore thumb. The battle system was great but at the time, it was not really anything special, especially compared to some of the JRPGs out at the time. The music was great, but so was Final Fantasy’s music. The characters were great but there were other games out at the time that did great with the characters of the game in their own right.
The main thing that stuck out to me was the setting of the game. It took you on a rollercoaster of backdrops that were so similar yet so different at the same time. You start the game out in a regular castle setting where there is a celebration going on. As you progress in the game and start with the time traveling portion of the game, the setting of the castle and other parts of the game change with it. You go from present day to the prehistoric age and the monsters you are fighting change with you. When you go into the future, the monsters that you are fighting also change with you.
This was a big change from the type of setting in most JRPGs at the time that focused more on fantasy settings than environments like this one. If these unique settings weren’t enough, the story of the game was stellar also and fit the setting like a glove. There were times that the game was humorous and times that it was drab and dreary. This in addition to gameplay that took you back and forth through time made this game a must play for any JRPG fan.
What Went Wrong in the Series
This is a complicated question. Chrono Trigger did get a sequel named Chrono Cross. Was it a bad game? Not at all. In fact, most video game magazines at the time gave the overwhelmingly glowing reviews with very few giving it below an 8.5. While this sounds like it would be worthy of a sequel based on the scores, there was one big problem and one that is still going on today. The game did not get the same response from the fans of the game as it did from the video game magazine reviewers.
Even though fans of the game recognized that Chrono Cross was a great game, they were disappointed that it was not a direct continuation of Chrono Trigger. Chrono Cross was a completely different game with a different story to tell, different battle system, way too many characters to develop individually (45ish), and even a more upbeat setting and tone. While these changes did not lead to it being a bad game, it led to it not being the game that the fans wanted as a follow up to one of the greatest games of all time.
Usually with sequels to games, there are at least some characters from the previous game that make some type of appearance, or even some of the settings that you can look at as a throwback to the previous game. Chrono Cross had none of this. Chrono Cross was more of a new game completely than a game that needed the Chrono name on it and I think that it would have been better served that way.
Chrono Cross actually took certain elements from Radical Dreamers, a game that came out after Chrono Trigger that acts as a side story to Chrono Trigger and cleans up some of the loose story ends that was left behind after the game ends. Radical Dreamers was never released outside of Japan and while Chrono Cross does borrow some things from the game, Chrono Cross is not a sequel to that game either.
Where The Chrono Series Stands Today
Absolutely nowhere. Sadly, the series is basically dead. There was a copyright for the name of a new Chrono game but nothing ever came of it. The last work that the writer for the Chrono series did was for a game called Another Eden which is a mobile gatcha game that uses some of the time travel element that the Chrono games are known for. The writer does not have any upcoming games that he is working on at the time. Square Enix, who I think owns the rights to the game, have many other games to work on and because fans did not receive the previous game well, it is something that I am sure is not a priority for them to put money and development manpower behind.
While Chrono Cross received great reviews, the fans did not like the direction that the game had taken and the writer did not agree with the fans. This is understandable since he put a lot of time and effort creating something that he thought that the fans would love. It turned out that the fans were more in love with Chrono Trigger as a game than Chrono as a series and wanted more of the same game instead of a completely different twist on the time travelling game.
Staff Writer; Tardell Swift
This brother is new to writing yet has many different interests such as gaming, hip hop, wrestling, and manga.
You can follow him on Twitter; PhirewoodGaming and keep up with his thoughts there as well.
